“I don’t think I smiled in two years,” the Dodgers outfielder tells USA TODAY Sports of his time on a troubled team in Boston. “I was just frowning, I started growing grey hairs on my face from the stress and everything for two years straight”

As the pic to the right suggests, he’s not being totally honest here. He was smiling pretty damn big when the Red Sox gave him that nine-figure deal.

Anyway, I’m picturing a musical montage of sad Crawford set to “Don’t Give Up” by Peter Gabriel or something. I’m also picturing a room full of all the people on the planet who have any real sympathy for Carl Crawford‘s ordeal in Boston. Pretty small room. This is hanging high on the back wall:

Sure, it sucks that he got hurt and stuff, but really Carl, your trials and tribulations were bearable I reckon.

Listen, Carl. I never thought that trade was a good idea. I thought Boston was a bad fit for you and your laid back personality. I knew you were hurt in Boston. That clubhouse, that you were a part of, was all sorts of dysfunctional. I also wish you the best of luck in Los Angeles. But you seriously need to STFU. Next time a reporter asks you about this just say, “No comment. I’ve moved on.” Practice it and believe it.

More smiles than hits… I’ve never seen a hitter with a worse approach at the plate (while in boston, anyway)… a flailing, open-stance, hot mess of a hitter. But more importantly i am tired of hearing this loser continue to complain about his Boston experience. Move on. Oh, and by the way, Carl, you’re still making WAY more money than you’re worth… don’t get nervous.

lmao wow you make life choice solely for the money then cry about. most of people attacking you would also take the money in second then cry like you. all of you should just go shopping with oprah and george bush lmao

Enough already about how much major league players earn. Leaving aside the value they create for owners, consider this. At any given time, there are 750 people in the world who can do what they do*. And of those 750, a relatively small percentage earn the really large salaries. But beyond that, in what professions can a person reach the echelon below the top rank and not earn a substantial wage? In business, law, education, medicine, it is likely that a person who is nowhere near the top of his field will still be wealthy or at least comfortable.

But in baseball, you can be an AAA player, even play there for many years, and still not earn $50,000/year. Most ball players don’t even get that far. A player who makes a career out of baseball, and remains in it for 20 years without getting to the majors or even AAA is making a pittance. And how many do make it that far even? I have been to 100s of minor league games from rookie ball through AAA and have often realized that not one player on either team will ever make the majors. Of the 1000s who are good enough to play professionally, even that a very small group out of the total population, an even smaller percentage will get to the pinnacle even as a reserve.

How many other professions are so exclusive? To reach the upper ranks is so rare, and to become a star even more unusual, with so many obstacles for even the most talented, that the salaries the best of the best earn are actually relatively unimpressive compared to the special circumstances that allow them to get to that point.

*You might quibble that there are more than 750 capable of playing in the majors at any moment, but the difference is so slight as to be meaningless. And the point is that there is only room for 750 at any one time (with some on the DL, a few more than that).

Cherrington should have been GM of the year for dumping Crawford’s, Gonzales’, and Beckett’s contracts on the Dodgers. He should have done it for nothing and got Webster as well. This was the deal of the decade that allowed the Red Sox to rebuild/retool about five years earlier than they should have. Yes Carl, you were part of the problem. You’re not a bad guy. You just couldn’t stay on the field or deal with the pressures of playing in a big market (other than a big laid back market like LA).

Crawford wasn’t smiling? He should have been, he stole money from Boston and played some of the worst defense in recent memory. He really pulled the wool over people’s eyes playing in TB where there is no stress and no expectations. His offensive numbers also managed to drop playing with Boston. Usually any newcomers to Boston see their numbers explode from prior levels.